Very often, I am asked, “Is it a Torah commandment to live in the Land of Israel?”
The question amazes me. A simple reading of the Book of Devarim gives the answer. Again and again, Moshe, our teacher, informs us that Hashem gave us the Torah so that we may live in Eretz Yisrael. Here are but a few examples:
“Now therefore, hearken O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you to do them, that you may live and go in and possess the Land which the L-rd G-d of your fathers gives you” (Devarim, 4:1).
“Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the L-rd my G-d commanded me, that you should act accordingly in the Land whither you go in to possess” (Devarim, 4:5).
“And the L-rd commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the Land into which you go over to possess” (Devarim, 4:14).
“Thou shall keep therefore His statutes and His commandments which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou may prolong thy days upon the Land which the L-rd thy G-d gives thee, forever” (Devarim, 4:40).
“I will speak to thee all of the commandments and the statutes and the judgments, which thou shall teach them, that they may do them in the Land which I gave them to possess” (Devarim, 5:27).
“You shall walk in all the ways which the L-rd your G-d has commanded you, that you may live, and that it be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the Land which you shall possess” (Devarim, 5:30).
“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments, which the L-rd your G-d commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the Land into which you go to possess it” (Devarim, 6:1).
“Hear therefore, O Israel, and take care to do it, that it may be well with thee, and that you may increase mightily, as the L-rd G-d of thy fathers has promised thee, in that Land that flows with milk and honey” (Devarim, 6:3).
“All the commandments which I command thee this day shall you observe to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the Land which the L-rd swore to your fathers” (Devarim, 8:1).
“Therefore shall you keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the Land, into which you go to possess it; that you may prolong your days in the Land, which the L-rd swore to your fathers to give to them, a Land flowing with milk and honey” (Devarim, 11:8)
Can there be anything more clear than this? Certainly Hashem wants His children, the Nation of Israel, to live in the Land of Israel!
Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld was the leader of the Old Yishuv and haredi community in Yerushalayim when Rabbi Kook made Aliyah. Referring to the paucity of Aliyah from the West, he stated: “Often I have instructed Rabbis in the Diaspora to inform Religious Jews that anyone who has the ability to come to Eretz Yisroel and doesn’t will have to account for his failure in the World to Come,’” (See the book, “Ha’Ish al HaChoma,” Vol.2, pg149).
People refuse to make Aliyah because they are in love with the exile and don’t want to give it up. Therefore, it isn’t enough that Diaspora Rabbis merely call upon people to make Aliyah. Rabbis must make the wonderful mitzvah of Aliyah a constant and central part of Jewish education. And, it goes without saying that they should make Aliyah themselves.
Concurrently, Israel must find practical solutions to the difficulties which new olim encounter, such as finding a livelihood, the education of children, and arranging for absorption in communities where the language of the oleh is spoken.
Sometimes it is said that Rabbis who come on Aliyah can’t always find work as a Rabbi in Eretz Yisrael where Torah Scholars abound. While this is true, it is preferable to be a simple Jew in Eretz Yisrael than to be a Rabbi in the Diaspora, as is stated in the Yerushalmi, Tractate Nedarim, 6:3, “The Holy One Blessed Be He says: A small group in Eretz Yisrael is more beloved to me than the Sanhedrin outside of Israel.” There is no obligation to be a Rabbi, but there is an obligation for a Jew to dwell in the Land of Israel.
HaRav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and HaRav Kook both held that a working person in Eretz Yisrael is preferable to a Torah Scholar outside of Israel. In the book, ‘Ha-Ish Al Ha-Chomah’ (pp. 157-158), it is related that Rabbi Sonnenfeld's grandson, like many yeshiva students, was in a difficult financial state but had a great desire to continue learning Torah. He received an offer from one of the famous cities in Czechoslovakia to become its Rabbi, which would solve both of his problems.
He went to discuss the matter with his grandfather. Rabbi Sonnenfeld lovingly looked at his grandson and said to him: “According to my opinion, it is preferable to be a working man in Eretz Yisrael than a Rabbi outside of Eretz Yisrael.” Similarly, it is told that a student of Rabbi Kook asked him about traveling to America to become a Rabbi. Rabbi Kook discouraged him, saying, “It is better to start some business here in Yerushalayim than to embark on a Rabbinical career in America," (‘Le- Shelosha B’Elul,’ Vol. 2 #32). The student followed Rabbi Kook’s advice and succeeded while continuing to learn Torah on a regular basis.
Another misconception is that if all of the Diaspora Rabbis would come on Aliyah, there would be no Torah learning outside of Israel. I once attended Rabbinical Council of America conference. I happened to be in America, and they invited me to come as an observer. Rabbi Herschel Schachter gave a class on whether it is preferable to make Aliyah or to be a community Rabbi. After a long shiur, he concluded that it is preferable to make Aliyah. At the end, he humbly said to me: “I don't know what I am doing here.” I innocently noted: “If HaRav abandons his community, they won't have a Rabbi.” He said to me that for every Rabbi in America, there is a line of Rabbis waiting to take his place.
I am not speaking about the Torah leaders of the generation who have weighed Aliyah and decided to remain in the Exile. For example, Rabbi Kook offered to help HaRav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski set up a Rabbinate in Eretz Yisrael, but he wrote that it was difficult for him to abandon the orphaned generation in his area and the yeshivot. The Responsa, ‘Maharam Shick,’ Yoreh Deah 225, 227, notes that many places in the Exile are like a sinking ship and the captain must stay aboard to save the passengers.
Similarly, HaRav Tzvi Hirscher Kalisher writes that HaGaon, HaRav Akiva Eiger wanted to make Aliyah at the end of his life, but his students told him that if he abandoned the country, the generation would be lost, and this is indeed what happened after his death. And we have heard that Rabbi Schachter himself once met the Chief Rabbi of Israel, HaRav Avraham Shapira, and related to him all of his different responsibilities, and HaRav Shapira told him that he was obligated to remain in America.
But we must remember, this permission not to make Aliyah applies only to the greatest Rabbis of the generation. Everyone else is beholden by the mitzvah which must be viewed not as a burdensome obligation but as a great privilege and the source of true joy for a Jew, as the Psalmist King David stated regarding the ingathering, “Then our mouths shall be filled with joyous song.”